testimonials

Susan SchenkMy first time attending the Creative Arts Community Arts at Menucha was prompted by my need to wake up my sleeping inner artist. She had been asleep for many years but was demanding to be let out. For the past 15 years, I’ve attended “camp,” trying everything from fine art painting to found art assemblage. In the process of discovering my dormant talents, I’ve also found a true community of friends. This immersion art experience is my spiritual retreat each year and nourishes my inner artist and my soul.

Susan GreenbaumMy experience at CAC’s workshop has been completely life changing for me. My first time there was taking a class right after dissolving a 20+ year marriage. My instructor was amazingly supportive and guiding in helping this process and find joy in some form of art after years of not feeding that part of me. My years since have brought new and amazing life-long friendships, art adventures and a wonderful husband I met there 22 years ago! There aren’t enough words to express my appreciation for this place and the dedicated Creative Arts Community volunteers who make it a powerfully meaningful experience for me.

Gail SimmonsI have been attending art camp with Creative Arts Community for six years and am among the newer campers. I’ve been an artist all my life and a painter for fourteen. My experiences with teachers such as Paul Missal, Sarah Wolf Newlands, Sandy Roumagoux, Katharine Ace, Aimee Erickson, Mary Josephson and Judith Pulman have contributed to an atmosphere of experimentation and encouragement in the realm of visual art and writing and have moved me closer to understanding what it means to be human. I will forever cherish this time, the community and place at Menucha, peacefully watching over the spirits of the Columbia River.

Sierra Lonepine BrianoMy open studio painting experience with Mary Josephson at the Creative Arts Community Arts at Menucha workshop brought me renewed enthusiasm for painting, for vision and for experimenting with oils as a new medium.

Ruth ArmitageMy work is influenced by the natural world, and Menucha is a beautiful source of inspiration. Being on the campus fills me with appreciation for history and place, and gets my creative juices rolling. Menucha is more than just a place, though. The people who gather there each summer for Creative Arts Community Residential workshop are salt of the earth. They support, encourage, share and nurture the creative spirits of those around them. I’m honored to be among them.

Linda EitelFor 16 years I’ve attended CAC’s Residential Arts Workshop and each year has brought me many new art skills and ideas.The quality of teachers at camp has always been excellent. It amazes me that we have this talented group of local teachers.With no formal art training prior to coming to the workshop, I can attest to the fact that working with the teaching staff and fellow artists in an inspiring setting has broadened my skills and my learning, making me the artist I am today. The experience has given me the joy of expressing myself through art.

Linda BlueI began painting in pastel in 2003 because I loved the way the vibrant colors lay on the paper. As an artist, I work to create paintings that speak to me, and others, about the beauty of the world and its people. I travel often to rich cultures in beautiful environments, giving me inspiration to recreate the mood I felt in those places. I have been inspired my whole life by the works of the great impressionist, Monet, Cezanne, and van Gogh, who push me to continue to see the richness this world has to offer.

Leslie LeeMy first experience with CAC Arts at Menucha goes back almost 30 years when I assisted a ceramics class (and met my husband Dennis Meiners). Since then I have returned intermittently both to teach and be taught. Having an entire week to focus on art-making, surrounded by the beauty of the Columbia Gorge, enjoying meals with fellow art-makers and getting instruction from top-notch teachers is hard to beat. I always return from this program with new energy, ideas, skills and focus.

Laura E GarnierThe Creative Arts Community Arts Residential Workshop at Menucha is a supportive environment in which there is freedom, joy, and an opportunity to immerse in the creative process with other artists.

Karen BirchfieldI have been painting at the Creative Arts Community Residential Workshop at Menucha for about 7 years. I did a Google search for art vacations and initially went there on a whim, not knowing anyone. I love every minute I spend there and have met some wonderful people. It’s always inspirational due to the beautiful setting, the art, the artists and the fun.

Julie KochThe Creative Arts Community Arts at Menucha has been a wonderful opportunity to try new art forms in a warm, welcoming setting as well as to connect with friends old and new. I return home with new ideas and inspiration every year!

Vicky DeKrey VaseyI have both taken classes and taught at Creative Arts Community’s Arts at Menucha. The full week dedicated to making art in this community of other artists is a rare and unique opportunity. The tranquil retreat setting is inspirational and allows you to forget, for a little while, the pressures and stresses of everyday life. It can be rejuvenating, invigorating, and/or challenging. I sometimes come away from Menucha new techniques, but I always come away with a fresh way of approaching or looking at my own art.

Trish HardingI am lucky to have had a life changing moment in my art making ever since the first time I attended Arts at Menucha! As a camper for three years and an instructor for eight, I have experienced an amazing community with nothing but the love of art and the love of learning that permeates there.Reaching for creative excellence is the gift that the Creative Arts Community has given me as well as so many, many friendships that I would not have ever had without the Arts at Menucha! I cannot imagine not attending each and every August!

Marilyn BadurinaCAC classes are total immersion with like-minded, original, thoughtful people. After a week of focused, but sometimes confused effort, I gain new understanding and trust in the art process.

Barbara ConyneCreative Arts Community workshops at Menucha changed my life. More correctly, it gave me one. Art. The encouragement and support from other artists and instructors gave me the courage to do what I love and not worry about how "perfect" my art was. I also met some of my best friends there.

Debra ChaseThe Creative Arts Community hosts a yearly residential artist workshop that has greatly influenced my art. The high quality of instructors and the workshops themselves are unparalleled for helping me as an artist and in my ability to teach art. These workshops are held at the Menucha Retreat Center overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. The pristine views of the mighty Columbia River, the rugged mountains and vistas bid me to return year after year to explore my artmaking.

Barbara MastersonMenucha is a very inspiring place!! When I arrive at the CAC Arts at Menucha and pull down the long driveway, I can’t wait to start my Plein Aire painting because there is so much to capture on canvas and paper. The nature and beauty there are a powerful inspiration, and it stays in your heart forever, healing body and soul.

Loie SannesThe Creative Arts Community is an attentively organized program by fellow artists who care. CAC has a long history of attracting outstanding artists as workshop leaders. Over my four trips to camp I’ve experienced inspiration, encouragement, challenge beyond my perceived abilities to create and personal attention of my own growth needs as an artist and person. Wonderful, committed, caring and talented workshop leaders. Fellow attendees to grow along with, be inspired by, and mutually cheered on.

Joseph BradyThe focus and intensity of the collective artistic spirit cultivate new understanding about how to immortalize beauty and emotion. Hour after hour skills in observation heighten, unleashing new ways to accomplish lines, forms and effects. Weeks later, the focus has dissipated, but the appreciation and new skills continue their influence.Lisa DubitskyEvery year I look forward to the magical week spent in contemplation and community. Every year I am struck by the shared passion within the community of sixty new best friends.Every year my work is transformed. First from drawing to painting, then returning to the underpinning of seeing, of visceral experience. Manifesting my most secret heart out into the world, to touch the most secret heart of others.

Karen StoryThe comradery, intensity, and quality of the weeks I have spent learning at the Creative Arts Community Residential Workshop have added to my overall work considerably. Demos, critiques, one-on-one instruction, and the freedom to work at any time of day and night have allowed what I learn at CAC Menucha to influence my work. Thank you, CAC.

Richard BrandtThe Creative Arts Community is a valuable asset to the Portland arts community and beyond. For decades it has been providing wonderful and unique opportunities for people of all ages to dive deep into their relationship with their muses in a supportive and beautiful setting. It also enriches my life as an instructor of ceramics. It's a wonderful thing to see the transformation that occurs in my students during a week of devoted study and a chance to play again.

Tom TuckerA week with the Creative Arts Community at Menucha is lifeblood to me. The camaraderie of working with skilled instructors and interesting people creates an exciting mix that extends my palette of ideas and desire to explore a variety of mediums. The atmosphere is, in a word, intoxicating.

Norma MorrellThe reasons the CAC classes at Menucha make me really happy:1. Folks are usually nice and very creative.2. Hugs and laughing.3. Art can save your life.

Catherine Josephson I enjoy painting very much. For over the twenty years I have come to the Creative Arts Community Camp at beautiful Menucha. The atmosphere there remains so positive and nurturing, I paint freely and continually try new avenues of expression.

Hector HernandezMy teaching experience at CAC art retreat has inspired me to explore the subject of portraiture even further. Mosaic portraiture and heart inspired ceramics allow me to develop a dialogue between the symbolic and the realistic approach. The residential workshop at Menucha is an awesome experience, inspiring me to explore both realism and the fantastic. During “camp,” participants share rich knowledge and experience, and inspire the rest of the group to peruse new creative initiatives.

Nancy FarlandLooking back on my 29 years of CAC workshops, I can clearly see my growth as an artist. As a timid first timer, I felt supported and encouraged; a feeling that continues to this day. CAC is a diversely talented group sharing the same love of art. Through a variety of classes I’ve developed an appreciation of many different media. I've learned to 'see' better, to love color and texture, and to work intuitively toward an artistic goal in whatever I am working on. Without this group and workshops, I would not be creating art. The talented and generous instructors, the visually stimulating and inspiring backdrop of Menucha, as well as the fellowship of artists in our community form a perfect atmosphere in which creativity thrives. What more could one ask for?

Sue SvobodaArt is the way I express my feelings when words fail. I am fascinated by how things are made and like the physicality of creating things by hand. Humans have always been cobbling things together and I feel very much a part of that tradition. Each year during the first two weeks in August at Menucha, I know I will be immersed in making things, learning new methods from teachers and students, and talking to other artists about what we do.A decade ago a friend introduced me to the Creative Arts Community. The inspiration, camaraderie, and shared love of the arts was life changing. The landscape at Menucha, too, influences my work. I love the Gorge, broad and expansive, complex and ever-changing, beautiful and rich with history! It has been an ideal setting for making things that allow me to express myself.

Dindia ZitekI love ceramics, and I also love almost all other art media, so I have been incorporating ideas from other media into my ceramics. I have used Japanese sashiko stitching patterns and black and white images from wood block printing in my surface decoration and am working on adding mosaic, basket making and encaustic to my ceramics. I have recently retired and would like to work semi-professionally in ceramics.My first art class ever was 15 years ago at Menucha through Creative Arts Community. I took basket making because it was the safest, least "artsy" class available. After the first year, I found out how safe this workshop was and branched out into every possible media. By my third or fourth year, I felt confident enough to start taking courses at local colleges. I credit the Creative Arts Community with getting me started in art.

Laura Di TrapaniThere was a radio program on the other day about the multitude of distractions that can pull our attention in any number of directions at any given moment. It is more and more difficult to fully engage our minds on one subject for more than 15 minutes without interruption. The commentator mentioned a writer who paid $4,000 to fly from theUS to Japan, turn around and fly back again in order to separate himself from the demands of his daily life and focus his thoughts for a sustained period of time. On the plane, miles above the earth he was able to concentrate on an important thesis he had to compose. For me, the CAC art retreats at Menucha offer the same opportunity for this so-called Deep Thought. It costs far less than 4 grand, the accommodations are far more comfortable and you have a community of like-minded people nearby to support and encourage you.The struggle in my own art practice has always been to sustain a balance between maintaining a serious intent while keeping a playful and open discourse with my material.The workshops at Menucha have taught me how to focus my mind and let it run free at the same time.Thank you to everyone in the Creative Arts Community for creating the perfect environment for fostering everyone’s need for Deep Thought.

Jeanne HamiltonI heard about the Arts at Menucha Retreat from an artist friend in 2001, and began attending that year. I haven’t missed a year, planning and looking forward to my time with fellow artists in the beautiful surroundings of the estate. I’ve taken a variety of classes, always pleased with the quality of instructors. In 2003, I was fortunate to take a soft pastel class from Marla Baggetta. Ever since, it has been my medium of choice. I am a retired high school art teacher and have had a lifetime of workshops and classes but must say the consistently innovative, inspiring and encouraging environment of Menucha has made a difference in my art and attitude about art. In 2016 I was asked to be an instructor at camp. I can’t express how grateful and proud I was to be asked to join the ranks of the quality teaching staff.The Creative Arts Community Residential Arts Workshop is a magical place where not only do campers learn art in a nonthreatening , positive atmosphere, but friends reconnect every year to renew networks and catch up on life events, very much like a family reunion.

Connie CheifetzMy first experience with Creative Arts Community and the Arts at Menucha workshops was 40 years ago. I was 20 and had just been in Portland for a year. An instructor at Oregon College of Arts and Crafts that I was taking a class from arranged for me to assist her in the jewelry making workshop she would be teaching. I had no idea what to expect, but what I found was a warm and welcoming group of artists and arts enthusiasts who shared their love of the arts and wisdom with me.In the ensuing years I have taken over 25 week-long workshops, listened to dozens of presentations by art instructors and enjoyed conversations and the company of countless arts explorers that have enriched my life and encouraged me to keep creating. There is no pretense here, just honest exploration. Each year I go I come away with some new insight into myself and my artwork.

Mary JosephsonFrom the beginning, I wanted to capture in my artwork more than a likeness of the individual. I want to reflect the character or spirit of the person depicted and relate to all of humanity. Using symbols of stewardship for the natural environment, nurturing crops and harvesting fruit I have included people of diverse ethnicity, often painting people whose color or age or gender renders them invisible or without a voice. My work tells the stories of people caught up in the heroics of everyday life, the commonplace events that add depth and color to our lives and shape our days. We each have our truths and myths, the underlying current of our lives. These universal connections are the subject of my work, represented in a manner meant to inspire and empower, offering hope for a positive outcome. My figures are strong and capable, often visually monumental, reflecting their character. It is through my large-scale public works that my work rings truest. Places where we must reach for and find those elements within our character, which make us human. Public Art is an opportunity to share this vision of the world with many different people, especially those who do not frequent Museums or Galleries.Whether I am painting in the Orchard at Menucha or teaching a group of fellow artists, the time spent with Creative Arts Community builds confidence, instills a sense of wonder and hope, uplifting all.

Elvina TaylorI’ve drawn, sketched and doodled since childhood. Art has always been my first, perhaps most honest form of expression. Stories, relationships and emotions can just as easily be found in a knotted kelp bed at low tide as in a news story of conflict or joy. I enjoy using metaphor to translate the sensual and divine. While my colored pencil works win prizes, I enjoy many mediums and am currently working with pastel and clay. Most recently I studied at the Scuolad’Arte Ceramica Ronano Ranieri in Deruta Italy, focusing on the art of Maiolica.I am inspired by classical sculpture, art nouveau as well as many of the Impressionists for not only their style but the ability to convey an emotion and tell a story.

Perhaps these inspirational testimonials will encourage you to seek out our wonderful workshops in the near future.